FWPA has undergone many changes since its first creation, but what will next year’s be? Maybe a new 6th grade elective, more AP classes, and maybe even a new PE class.
Mrs. Thornton, and others who have large roles behind the scenes in preparing FWPA for the new year, is planning on adding classes such as a PE elective for 10th graders, and 7th graders will be getting 2 new elective classes for one semester each. A Journalism class taught by Mrs. Paris will help students with their writing, and a Speech and Debate class taught by Mr. Young will help students with their public speaking. New CTE (Career Technical Education) engineering classes taught by Mr. Scott will help high schoolers with life skills, and a new 6th grade elective called Tiger Time will support students with their studies. The 6th grade elective class that has been known as Service Learning will have a new name. Mrs. Thornton plans to incorporate these classes because she feels they will help the school overall with academic and community goals.
The first addition to FWPA next year will be a PE class run by Mr. Sagastizado. The reason this will be added into FWPA is because, “It gives an opportunity to high schoolers looking to fill in PE credits,” Mrs. Thornton voiced. Mr. Sagastizado explained, “Physical fitness is very important for your brain development and body development.”
More additions to the school are a Speech and Debate and a Journalism semester class for 7th graders. The 7th graders will have the chance to be in the Speech and Debate elective run by Mr. Young for first or second semester, and then it will be followed by Journalism, which is being run by Mrs. Paris. Both classes will be connected with each other, and will help one another with different assignments and tasks. Both classes will also support Mrs. Nordstrom’s yearbook and newspaper class with some of the tasks they will be handling. “It will incorporate writing, and will support the school newspaper,” Mrs. Thornton exclaimed. “Because I have taught Speech and Debate, I want to help build confidence and help with cameras, and work on supporting their writing and make sure that they are writing for a purpose and not just for the grade,” Mrs. Paris added.
The 9th and 10th graders will now be taking AP Human Geography, which is one of two AP courses they will be taking to earn their history credits. The classes were adjusted to this in order to “give every student the opportunity to earn college credits when they take the AP test in the spring,” Mrs. Thornton commented.
Mr. Scott will be running a new CTE course, to grades 7th to 10th. The main focus of the class is to “give students important job skills and important life skills,” Mr. Scott expressed. Mrs. Thornton exclaimed, “In general they will expect project based learning. Mr. Scott has been working hard over the last several years to increase CTE offerings at FWPA.”
In the 6th grade, the previously known 6th period Service Learning class will now be changing names into FWPA Citizenship, and will be run by Mr. Klumpenhower. “We’re going to teach them basically what it means to be a citizen of FWPA, more than that a citizen of your world,” Mr. Klumpenhower shared, “And a lot of that is going to be through service.”
Another incorporation in the 6th grade is the new Tiger Time short class which will be around 45 minutes twice a week. “It’s going to allow small group interventions for extra support, but also enrichment for advanced opportunities,” Mrs. Leah stated.
Though the school has undergone many changes, the community and family feeling the school has been maintained for over 25 years stays strong. From changes in locations, to new leaders and staff, FWPA will always continue to be a school for all.
